


Desynced

by eternalAnomaly, weissnacht



Series: The Synced Series [2]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Death, I swear, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Nikolas is a nerd, This is gonna be gay, but it isn't that big, completely a nerd, like really gay, there is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2018-09-28 10:05:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10090511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalAnomaly/pseuds/eternalAnomaly, https://archiveofourown.org/users/weissnacht/pseuds/weissnacht
Summary: “The Templars were something he had not expected them to be. An evil organization that wanted to restrict freedoms, not save the world.”Nikolas is a college student and self-proclaimed historian, kidnapped by Abstergo before joining them, but he may have gotten himself into something he should have never been near.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be really weird and a little slow until Alyx finally gets into the picture, but don't worry, he'll be there soon, real soon. enternalAnomaly has his own work going titled Synced Links and you should go check it out because this is a side story of it. More like a background story for one of the future characters until it lines up with Synced Links in the future!
> 
> Scenes involving intense adult content have been removed from the story to allow for more to read it. There will be a chance in the future for access to these scenes via my personal Tumblr or the Synced Series' Tumblr. The Tumblr belonging to the Synced Series can be found at this url: http://syncedlinksofficial.tumblr.com/
> 
> Please bare with myself and the other authors of this series as we work to bring more content to you while working through efforts to write quality content while furthering the story.

The last thing Nikolas could remember was that he had left his apartment to go to class, but now he was in an empty room with a wall of glass and a single light. The other three walls were white and made him a bit uncomfortable in his groggy state. There was a bed that he had been generously placed on, a sink, and a toilet that looked  _ very _ cold. He let out a small groan as he stood up from the bed, moving to lean against the wall for support. He froze as he heard a beep from behind him and turned, spotting a crack growing vertically in the wall and a  _ door _ . Had that been there before? An older man stepped into the room through the newly formed hole, black suit contrasting the place completely with an even older male trailing behind, his clothes blending into the walls. They both paused, stopping directly in front of Nikolas, cornering him.

 

“Welcome to Abstergo Labs, Nikolas Meyer. Now, as a trained Assassin you will probably attempt to take me out, but I reassure you that would be the very last thing you would  _ ever _ do,” his voice was stern and loud, sounding intimidating and actually causing Nikolas to press himself to the wall. However, even with how the man sounded, there was something Nikolas didn’t understand.

 

“What do you mean by ‘assassin’? I’ve never been hired to kill someone… at least I think I haven’t…” a frown crossed the youngest male’s face, hand moving to his mouth to allow him to bite on the nail of his right thumb. “Are you sure you got the right person? I just study history and-”

“Don’t play dumb with me,” he snapped, eyes narrowing before reaching forward and grabbing the hand that Nikolas had been biting the thumbnail of and pulled the thumb and it’s ring toward the other two males. “This ring is that of the Assassin Order. You’re at least an  _ Initiate _ . Did you hit your head or something?”

“Okay, I  _ really _ have no idea what you are going on about,” the bleached blond attempted to withdraw his hand from the other’s. “I got this ring from my old man when he died. It’s the only thing I got to keep because my sister snatched it for me since my mom wouldn’t allow me to even show up to the funeral.” He quickly brought his hand back to his chest as the man stepped back, forehead wrinkling at the words that had just come out of his captives mouth.

 

“Your father’s?” he frowned, pulling back. “Your  _ dead _ father’s? Then why are you wearing it? Aren’t those things supposed to be passed down to their apprentice?” he asked, turning to the man in the lab coat who simply shrugged at the question. The suited man turned back to Nikolas, teeth going into his lip before he spoke again. “So you know nothing of the Templars? Or the Brotherhood? The Pieces of Eden?” he inquired stepping a bit too close for comfort.

 

Nikolas pressed himself further into the wall, back completely flat against it. “N-No. I-um. I’ve heard of the Templars? The ones that adorn the Iron Cross right? They fought for the Catholics in the Crusades and protected Christian pilgrims as they moved from Jerusalem to Jordan and they did most of the witch hunting during the Inquisition, right?” he rattled off facts, now spinning the ring around his thumb’s knuckle. “Then the Templars kind of got thrown into the Inquisition by the French, accused of treason of the church. Thus, all templars got arrested under the French King’s orders and then the Pope pretty much did the exact same thing, but to a lesser degree.”

 

“Of course, you know the history that you’re taught, right?” he stepped back, crossing his arms and stepping next to the scientist looking guy. “We don’t have an exact use for him,” he said looking over to the male who had been silent the entire time.

“We can’t exactly let him go,” the oldest male said as he stared straight at Nikolas. “His last name is Meyer… it’s a common name, but what of his ancestry, Rikkin?” his eyes turned to the other male. 

“His father was an Assassin clearly, but we haven’t exactly followed his family tree since the University didn’t have any records on where he was from besides his high school,” the man, who now had somewhat of a name, brought a phone from his pocket. He began to move his fingers quickly across the screen, searching for  _ something _ . “Someone did the research on Mr. Meyer surprisingly quickly. I am surprised by the results… His father was an assassin but his grandfather was  _ a Templar _ , Joseph Meyer.” There was silence after the name was said, the oldest males glanced between themselves before staring at Nikolas. “Your grandfather was Joseph Meyer?”

 

“My granddad? I didn’t see him that much, but mom brought me to visit him a few times,” he said watching them. “He was a cool guy. He’s the one that got me into the whole concept of history, but he had some really tall tales about the Order of the Knights Templar-”

 

“Which are true,” he said quickly, cutting the younger off and moving toward the door. “So you knew nothing of the Assassins from your father… Since that is the case, then let us tell you about them,” he turned toward Nikolas, whose face had gone completely blank as he took all the new information in.

 

“Is this a good idea sir? We have no idea what he will do with the information or if he is actually lying-”

 

“I doubt he would lie about having no idea what they are if he has one of their rings on,” Rikkin’s voice started to sound as if he were talking to a child. “So Nikolas, listen closely,” he smiled and moved toward him. “The Templars are an ancient organization, dating human prehistory. We are the followers of Adam and Eve’s Cain and his ideas. We strive for order, because without order, the human race is sure to perish,” he pulled out a necklace that he had been hiding beneath his dress shirt, showing Nikolas the Iron Cross that hung from the silver chain. “The Templars plan to help humanity, while the Assassins wish to allow anarchists to roam free! They want the world to fall into the chaos of free will where no morals will exist,” he stared at the cross as he spoke the last part, fingers curling around the symbol of his loyalty. 

 

Nikolas was silent for a moment, thinking back on how he felt about his father and grandfather. He stared at the silver ring that adorned his right thumb, fingers twitching slightly as he took all of it in. “My grandfather wanted to help the world, right..?” his voice was soft, looking to see the man’s dark brown eyes. “I want to help the world, not ruin it — with what little time I have.” 

 

A smile curled onto the face of Rikkin, hand reaching out and clasping the younger man’s shoulder. “If you want to help the world, you are welcomed here. You're studying history, correct? We are actually in need of a historian to help us out with educating our researchers on what is occurring in our system at the time it is happening within the video feed. Especially any significant events and places,” he smiled and began to bring the boy away from the wall, the smaller frame relaxing in his hold.

 

Nikolas’s eyes focused onto the ring before he noticed the clothes on him, the loose white cotton fabric scratching against his skin when he moved, causing him to have an uncomfortable chill on his body. “C-Could I have my clothes back?” he asked, looking up at Rikkin. His fingers moved, pulling at his own sleeve. “These are uh… A bit uncomfortable and  _ really _ not flattering.” Rikkin turned to Nikolas for moment, gears turning in his head as he glanced over to the scientist. They were silent as a phone was pulled out, causing Nik to shift back and forth on his feet as he waited. Did he overstep a boundary? Where his clothes missing? Oh fuck, if they were, that was  _ hundreds _ down the drain.

 

“We’re having them brought now. We’ll meet up with them. Come on,” Rikkin’s voice was booming again, but more friendly now. As if he had just gotten a new son. He moved out of the room, leading the other two away from the rooms that matched the one they had stucked Nikolas into, passing some that had older men in them, at least in their twenties as they watched him leave, eyes and body seeming hostile toward the group with the ability to wander. Nikolas fingers curled around the cool fabric that hung off of him, body tensing far more than he would like. He moved a bit closer to the men he was familiar with, eyes staring at the ground. 

 

He was led out of the area of the rooms, moving farther away from it and to a office space. There were a few desks scattered with computers on top with paper scattered about on each one. His eyes scanned the room, taking in the setup before he heard Rikkin speaking again.

 

“Here are your clothes, all in tidy order. I believe they cleaned them while you were out since you fought back a bit when you were grabbed,” he smiled as a woman with light blonde hair came up to them with clothes folded neatly in her arms and a pair of shoes, freshly shined setting softly on top. She offered them over to Nikolas, eyeing him.

 

“You are not as big as your clothes suggest,” she shook her head and reached forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. Nikolas’ eyes moved from her hand back to her eyes. “Wear tighter fitting clothes, they will be  _ far _ more flattering to your body type,” she smiled kindly before turning on her heel and walking away. 

 

Nikolas curled his fingers in his returned clothes, eyes watching her leave. “My clothes aren’t  _ that _ oversized,” he muttered before turning to look at Rikkin. “Where can I…” he trailed off as he was pointed in the direction of the bathrooms. He nodded before making his way to them. He closed the door behind him, gently removing the cotton fabric from his upper body. He investigated the small bruises that he finally begun to feel on him. His fingers lightly traced over the purple blotched skin, wincing at his own touch. He let out a small sigh and unfolded his sweater, pulling it on over his chest and situated it so that it wasn’t pulling at his throat. He stared at his pants for a moment before picking them up, finding his boxers on the inside. A heat rose in his cheeks as he realized that  _ someone had seen them.  _ His penguin boxers were folded neatly in the protection of his jeans. 

 

He tugged the pants and underwear he had been changed into off and then into the rest of his, slipping on his shoes with a contented sigh. He checked in the mirror, frowning at the state of his hair. He lifted his hands to the bleached ends, pushing them into the perfect place. He glanced at the white cloths before picking them up and attempted to fold them before leaving the cold bathroom. He went back over to Rikkin, glancing at the clothes in his hand before looking back at the older man. 

 

“You can just leave them on one of those chairs over there,” Rikkin’s voice echoed in the nearly empty room as he pointed in the direction of a group of cloth covered chairs surrounding a wooden table with a glass top. Nikolas approached the furniture before placing the items gentle in them. “Now, let’s get you caught up on business,” he smiled and wrapped his arms around the younger male. “You have quite a lot to learn.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikolas gets a little bored with being stuck inside all day and night, so he decided to get out and see one of the capitals he had always wanted to see, Madrid! He also happens to recall the Spanish drinking age.

His fingers curled and uncurled, green-grey eyes trained on the screen at the tips of his fingers. The words on the page, they meant something. But what? He scanned the Latin once again, wishing someone had at least  _ edited  _ the letters. No spaces, no punctuation, no lower cased letters, there was nothing but capital letters. He pulled up another document, blank this time. He began to go through and type each letter, putting a space when he thought necessary, but no punctuation, at least not yet. The historian tapped lightly on the edge of the page as he looked over the letters that now formed words, eyes scanning for verbs endings and forms of  _ quis _ . He bit his lip before beginning to translate each word, simple at first, then he would go into other meanings of the word in the context that it was in. 

He looked up as he heard the door of his room open, a scientist coming in to give him another hard drive. The man moved to stand next to Nikolas, eyes looking over the tablet before shaking his head with a sigh. “Here is another document to translate and stuff. You know the drill,” he said, placing it lightly in Nikolas’ outstretched hand. “Have fun.”

 

Nikolas’ eyes watched as he left the room before turning back to what he had been doing. He had nearly translated the first… paragraph? It had to be. There was  _ clearly  _ a gap in the lines and a pause in the letters here. He tapped lightly as he came across a word he had never seen before. He opened another document, a word list that Rikkin had sent to him with words they had found. 

 

_ Dei Isui.  _ The gods of Isu. The topic of this document, an ancient civilization that was forgotten as actual beings, thought to be the gods of myth and legend. The Romans and Greeks worshipped them and the things they could do. There was also the mention of the  _ Pupilla Paradisi _ , the Apple of Eden was what Rikkin had told him to translate it as, which caused him to question what it really was.

 

As he was given more documents to translate and history to find, he began to notice shifts in the perspectives, especially in what he had been told about the Templars and the Assassins. There seemed to be a major fight, millennia old between the two Orders. He bit down hard on his lip, worried about what he had gotten himself into the more he found. The people, the times, even the leaders.  _ Everything _ was beginning to unveil itself the more he read. The reasons everything happened and how it happened. 

 

Nikolas took a deep breath, fingers running quickly through his hair. He glanced from his laptop on his thighs to the window on his right. He often shifted between the isolation rooms and the office he had been given, sometimes wanting real light to work in if he was given a physical copy of a document. He tapped on the corner of his laptop for a moment before setting it down on the desk as he took his feet from the desk and placed them on the carpeted ground. He stood, moving over to the window to look out at the city of Madrid. He tapped lightly on the wall before turning, grabbing his coat from the chair where it hung.

 

He was going to use the opportunity he had to visit this capital city. He had been granted free roam of the city and had even been taught the Spanish language as he resided in the area so he could better himself. As he made his way outside, he informed the people at the desk he would be back later. They looked at him for a moment, a bit uncertain of allowing him to leave. He smiled softly at them before turning and walking out the door.

 

He inhaled deeply as the Spanish air of evening hit him, feet planted on the foreign ground. He gripped the jacket tightly in his left hand, bringing his right thumb up to bite on the nail again. He glanced around the area, taking in where he was before moving down the street. A cafe sounded good, though if he remembered correctly, the legal drinking age in Spain  _ is  _ 18\. He paused in his steps and checked his pockets, finding his wallet quickly. He opened it, checking for his ID and how much money he had on him and if he had his card. He tapped lightly on the leather before a grin spread to his face. His feet moved quickly as he scanned the buildings. All seemed like normal businesses, no bars. He hesitated before making a left, heading away from the businesses and toward an area he felt was more restaurant-like. 

 

He paused in front of a building, a smile spreading across his face as he stood there, bass threatening to push through the walls and darkened windows. He glanced at his hands, watching their ever so slight shakes. He curled them into fists, filling his lungs with the Spanish air once again before pressing against the door, and stepping into the low lit building, the bass and chatter of the crowd enveloping his sense. He blinked a few times to properly adjust to the lighting before proceeding further in. He scanned the crowd that had grouped together on the dance floor, Spanish and other languages flowing into the room, far too much and too fast for him to properly understand anything except a few choice words.

 

Nikolas spotted a group of three empty stools in front of the bar and moved over to the middle one, making himself comfy on the seat and crossing his left leg over his right, eyes scanning the drinks behind the counter and the board that rested just above those drinks. The names, he noticed, had all various names and in various languages. He immediately picked out the English names:  _ Salty Dog, Buttery Nipple, and Mountain Dew Me  _ to name a few. He began to spin his ring on his thumb, eyes still scanning the names when a figure blocked his view. Nikolas turned his focus to the male, his attire was a loose dress shirt with a tight vest above it. He was clearly of Spanish descent, the tawny skin touched by the sun just enough to cast this enchanted glow on the other male and his eyes a milky brown. 

 

Nikolas leaned forward, a smile curling at the ends of his lips. He was pleased with himself that he had decided to wear a tight fitting sweater for once, hand getting placed gingerly under his chin as he watched the man as he talked to another customer, hands at work mixing their drink. The milky brown eyes turned to him, a grin forming on the owner’s face.

 

“Hola como le puede ayudar?” the words flowed from his mouth, deep and rich. Nikolas was taken aback for a moment before he remembered he was at a bar  _ in Spain _ .

 

“A-Ah… Disculpe, pero se puede hablar Inglés?” Nikolas could feel his tongue slipping up some, a little scared of using the foreign language with a complete stranger. He moved his hand from his chin back to the hard surface of the bar’s granite counter-tops. His heart started beating rapidly as the bartender paused, before pouring the drink for the other customer. Could he not speak English..?

 

“I can, though excuse me if some of it is broken,” the Spaniard said as he moved to stand in front of Nikolas, a smile gracing his lips. The American’s heart skipped a beat, more in surprise than anything.

 

“T-That’s fine!” he said quickly, eyes lighting up. “Oh, and to answer your question, which drinks do you recommend that are sweet in flavor?” he asked as his body moved back to a more relaxed state. Nikolas’ eyes traced the details in the other male’s face as he watch him for a moment before the brown eyes turned to the board above his head. A smile crossed his face and he rolled up his sleeves before grabbing a few choices bottles and cans. The darkened fingers moved swiftly through the process, opening a bottle of Gaseosa and three other things that Nikolas could not recognize. A lime slice was added to the lip of the glass and it was slid over in front of him.

 

“It is called ‘Mountain Dew Me,’” a grin curled onto the man’s lip as Nikolas glanced from the glass to him before he picked it up and took a sip. The green-grey eyes widened as the owner of them drank a bit more before setting it down.

 

“This is surprisingly good!” his fingers curled into the glass, both hands holding it now. “There’s pineapple juice in here, isn’t there?” he peered curiously into the glass, head tilted to a small angle.

 

“There is, did I make it a little too overwhelming in that part?” he asked, leaning forward to inspect the liquid in the glass as well.

 

“I think it’s perfect, but I’ve never really had a bartender make me a glass before,” he grinned lightly before looking up, heart skipping a beat at how close in proximity they were. He had to focus on his breathing to keep himself from doing anything stupid.

 

“Is it? That’s great!” he beamed as Nikolas finished off the drink. He took the empty glass from him, eyes turning to look back at the board. “Would you like another one? Sweet or something else?”

 

“Something else,” he echoed, hands moving to his lap as he watched the other move swiftly as he brought together another concoction, this time a shot. He had taken note that there was coffee liquor added to the mixture and he watched as it was topped with whipped cream. He eyed the small glass for a moment before he reached forward. “I just… tip my head back and down it, right?” he questioned as he held the glass with an unstable hand.

 

“Have you never taken a shot before?” he asked, a chuckle releasing from his throat. Nikolas raised his eyes from the white cream, face heating up before nodding slowly. The bartender got a glint in his eyes as he leaned back, fingers drumming lightly on the counter. “Well, you have the basic instruction on how to do it, just go for it,” he said before moving a hand to lightly push the shot-glass toward the American’s lips. “Just give it a  _ shot _ .”

 

A laugh escaped Nikolas’ mouth, goofy grins forming on both his and the Spaniard’s faces. “That was a perfectly timed pun,” he said before downing the drink, his mouth and throat burning for a moment as the shot went down. Nikolas set the glass on the counter, closing his eyes as he waited for the light pain to pass before looking up. “What was that called?” He asked as he gently ran his fingers on the cool jigger. 

 

“Deep throat,” he grinned, leaning forward to wipe some whip cream off of Nikolas’ upper-lip. A deep crimson blush passed over the bleached blond’s cheeks. He watched as the other man licked off the cream from his own finger. “My name is Mateo, just so you know,” he smirked and started to move to serve another customer.

 

Nikolas moved his left index finger up and placed it lightly on the area of skin that the man had just touched. It felt hotter than the rest of his body and a small smile played at his lips. He had made a marvelous decision at leaving work for a few hours and coming to this specific bar. He leaned back a bit on the stool, eyes peering around the darkened space, lights flashing to the beat of the music and people were still on the dance floor, but now they all seemed to morph into one as they swayed sloppily to the beat.

 

His left hand’s fingers began to lightly trace invisible lines on the counter-top as he watched everything around him, eyes never staring in one direction for long. He jumped slightly when he felt a warm object envelope his hand, stopping its movements. He looked back at his hand to see a darker one gripping it, following the arm attached to it back to Mateo who had a cheeky grin on his face. 

 

“Is the alcohol not bothering you much?” He asked as his fingers moved to trace circles on the back of the pale hand beneath them. “That's odd that a first time shot taker isn't affected by the shot.”

 

Nikolas felt a sly smile cross his face as he moved to lean forward, closer to Mateo. “It wasn't my first time drinking hard liquor. It takes a lot more than that to do more than just give me a buzz,” he chuckled before leaning into his right hand. “Are you wanting to get me drunk?”

 

“Not quite drunk, just giving you the taste of what I can do,” he smirked as he leaned closer to the other’s face. Nikolas was beginning to pick up on every single detail in front of him, the deviation of skin color that were clearly the scars of puberty and the few light moles that dotted his cheeks. “Would you like to know what else I can do?” He said leaning in farther, just enough so his lips brushed Nikolas’.

 

The blond could feel the breath stuck in his throat, right index finger digging lightly into his skin. “That sounds like an  _ interesting  _ proposal,” he responded, starting to move away from the other. “What's in it for me?” He asked and tilted his head more into his hand.

 

“A fun time?” Mateo grinned and rolled his sleeves up properly. “Of course, only if you really want to,” he said and began to lightly trace circles on the American’s left hand again. Nikolas’ eyes drifted to the exposed arm of the hand that was touching his, noticing a certain symbol near his wrist. One he had became all too familiar with in the last few weeks and that he noticed looked similar to the Freemasons that he had heard so many tales of.  _ The Assassins. _ He could feel his breathing freeze again. Was it coincidence that Mateo happened to have this symbol? Was there a  _ reason _ he had been his bartender? 

 

No. There was absolutely no way that the Assassins could know he was working for Abstergo, plus he was still wearing his dad’s ring and—oh. That was it, wasn't it? Mateo had noticed that he could be a possible Assassin too and that it might be a perfect opportunity to get into someone’s pants. That had to be it, but Nikolas was  _ not _ going to let this chance to release some stress slip away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is going to be a NSFW chapter that isn't really necessary for the story, i just want to write it lol So if you want to skip it, you can.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikolas takes a shower after his intimate night and has a flashback he wasn't quiet expecting, or wanting. Thoughts of his mom and dad he hadn't had in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a few chapters, Desynced will be mostly short stories and such as I wait for Synced Links to catch up to my time frame since Desynced is going to end up two or three years ahead at this point. Right now it's a little after Synced Links begins since Nik got kidnapped after Alyx moved in with Des. You didn't hear it from me but... 
> 
> Synced Links is going to have a comedy relief moment with Nik in it. ;) (No sex, I swear)
> 
> Also these chapters are always close to the same length and it scares me.

Nikolas had woken up earlier than he planned to, that was for certain. He had not seen a clock read 5a.m. when he opened his eyes in years. He shuffled out of Mateo’s grip before sitting up and rubbing his forehead. He could feel a slight pain rushing through it from the alcohol he had taken in that night before. He moved a hand down to his stomach and frowned at the stickiness he found. He stood, stretching his back before leaning over and shaking Mateo lightly.

 

“Hey,” he said softly. “Where is your shower?” The Spaniard turned with a small groan, tossing his arm over his face. Nik let out a small laugh before repeating his actions until he got a reply.

 

“... _ A la izquierda _ ,” Mateo muttered softly before rubbing his eyes. “ _ Por qué? _ ” the brown eyes stared softly up to the American, eyebrows knotted together.

 

“I have to get back to work,” Nikolas replied, a purr to his voice as he ran his fingers through the dark brown mass of bed hair still attached to the pillow. “I am  _ surprisingly _ a busy guy,” he grinned playfully before turning, grabbing his clothes and heading into the bathroom. 

 

He closed the door behind him, breathing in deeply before placing his ring on the sink and hanging up his clothes on the towel rack so they could de-wrinkle as he washed. He turned to the shower and began to play with the knobs till he could get the temperature he wanted and hopped it, slowly beginning to wash all of last night off of him.

 

 

_ “Nikolas! Get down here!” the voice of an older woman shouted from down the stairs, startling the blond who had just pulled on his shirt. He glanced toward the door, fingers grazing the edges of the black fabric. He hesitated before moving toward the door and leaned his head out.  _

 

_ “What for?” His voice sounded smaller than he had meant to. He just felt too tired to shout after all this time. He left the room to lean against the railing, peering down and letting out a sigh when he did not see the woman at the bottom of the stairs. He took careful steps down, listening to the whispers that were occurring in the kitchen but unable to properly hear the words they were saying. _

 

_ His fingers curled around the banister as he spotted the family gathered at the kitchen table. What was going on? He inched all the way down the stairs and over to the wooden table, the top warn from supper after supper. “Aren’t you going to sit?” his mother’s voice, a hint of anger on it. He glanced at her before taking his seat.  _ **_Always_ ** _ his seat. His eyes drifted from his mother to his father. Back to his mother.  _ **_Always_ ** _ back to her. He studied her face for a moment before deciding he needed to initiate the conversation. _

 

_ “You.. uh… wanted me?” he asked, maintaining eye contact with her as his fingers found the edge of his shirt, curling into the soft cotton as his left leg began to bounce gently, foot resting on the chair’s stretcher. He felt a lump grow in his throat as his mother held her coffee cup in both hands, staring at it before making eye contact with him again. _

 

_ “Nikolas,” his mom started slowly, claw-like nails tapping at the porcelain in her calloused grip, “you snuck out last night, didn’t you?” _

 

_ He froze, eyes widening for a moment before narrowing, hands moving to the table-top. “I did not. You know I didn’t. I was in my room all night and you kept checking in on me to make sure I was there. I know I’m grounded. I stayed home and in my room. All I did was read books and I even  _ **_told_ ** _ you what they were about. What more do you want from me?” immediately his voice rose, defensive and full of anger. _

 

_ “Are you sure? We found footprints outside your window, leading away from the house,” her lip curled as she spoke, showing the perfect dentures in her mouth, caused by an infection she had gotten. _

 

_ “Mom, my room is on the second story. You seriously believe that I climbed out my window and landed on the ground without hurting anything? And I got back up? How in the world would I even manage that?!” his voice rose more, hands flailing in front of him as the words spewed out of his mouth. He leaned back against the wooden chair, fingers tapping against the table, free of the nails completely bit away.  _

 

_ “We know you… what do you call it? Parkour. You parkour and it teaches you how to do stuff like that,” she says crossing her arms, eyes boring holes into him. “You could have easily snuck out and gotten back in between the times I came to check on you. Or after I went to bed.” _

 

_ “I said I didn’t do it!” his voice was at a level he had never thought it would reach, shouting at this point. “I have never once snuck out. Do  _ **_not_ ** _ accuse me of something when all you have are footprints. Plus, my parkouring hasn’t even reached that level yet. How about trusting me for once and actually believing-” _

 

_ “Nikolas,” the deep voice cut him off, causing the young boy to turn his attention to his father who had spoke for the first time since Nik had been called out of his room. “Calm down and just answer a few questions I have for you,” his father was restrained, frightening Nikolas. Was he mad or did he trust him? “Yes or no only. Did you sneak out of your room?” _

 

_ “No.” _

 

_ “Did someone else sneak into your room?” _

 

_ “No.” _

 

_ Silence. _

 

_ A sigh followed by the movement of a single chair as his father stood, ushering his mother up and out of the room, far out of earshot. He returned, sitting back down across from Nikolas as he ran a hand down his wrinkled, spotted face. 75 years worth of life in a simple area.  _

 

_ “You believe me, don’t you?” Nikolas was surprised at how quiet his voice had come out, eyes cast down to the table now. “I stayed in my room the whole time. Just like mom told me to do. I can even show you the books I read and what was in them and-” _

 

_ “I believe you. Your mother is just worried,” his father said as the hand that had touched his own face was placed on the table gently. “Far too worried. You have freedom to roam since we moved into town. Freedom that you didn’t have before now and it scares her because she had no idea where you’ll go. You do remember why you are grounded, aren’t you?” _

 

Yeah. But not for the reason you think.  _ Nikolas was silent, staring at his dad before nodding. He back to the table, eyes tracing the darker parts of the tanned wood.  _

 

_ “Your mom just wants to keep you safe,” he stood, moving around the table and wrapping an arm across the shoulder of the younger male. “I do too.” _

 

_ “I know,” Nikolas spoke softly, eyes not moving up to his father’s. A kiss was placed on his head before the warmth left his side. “Going back to work?” his eyes finally deserted the table as his dad moved toward the closet. _

 

_ “Someone has gotta make the money for us, right?” he smiled over to him before the door blocked his face. “You just worry about your grades, got it? You are the smartest of us, after all.” _

 

_ “Hey dad?” _

 

_ “Hm?” he hummed as he closed the door, pulling on his dark, hooded coat. _

 

_ “...It’s nothing. I just wanted to tell you I love you,” Nikolas turned away, eyes staring at the table once again. What was he going to do? Just go ahead and say ‘hey dad, I’m gay. I just really love dick.’ He shook his head and stood, moving past his father before heading up the stairs, hand lightly tracing the ballister.  _

 

_ As soon as he was in his room, he closed his door, leaning his forehead against the cool wood, regulating his breathing. He brought his hand back, curling his fingers into a fist, hand coming down and pausing right above the polished wood. He stepped back, shaking it as though that would cure it. Rid himself of his frustration and reverse his attitude. He moved to sit down on his bed, quilt piled off to one side and bed clothes a mess. He stood back up, tossing the fabric to the floor before making his bed, fingers working quickly so he could have something to do. Anything but thinking.  _

 

**_Ding._ **

 

_ A message, but from who? His eyes glanced to his phone that was lit on his desk. He tossed the pillows to the head of the bed before reaching across the work he had just done, grabbing the piece of technology before dropping stomach down. It was from Alyxander Solomon Fawkes to the group chat they had with a few other kids from school.  _ **_They Seem Like Stoners_ ** _ graced the top of his screen as he read the newest meme. He shook his head before pressing the name of the group and muting the conversation. He set his phone back down, hanging his head and legs off of the twin mattress.  _

 

_ The senior year was ahead of him. A year early, but it was there. He took a deep breath and rolled off of his bed, feet planted firmly on the ground as he found his gaze drifting out the window and to the ground below it. The set of footprints taking his eyes to the backyard and disappearing behind a tree. _

  
  


Reaching forward, Nikolas turned off the water, chest heaving. “Why did I have to remember that  _ now _ ?” he hissed out, other hand resting on the top of his chest as he attempted to slow his breathing. He leaned his head back, staring up at the color blotched ceiling. He finally calmed himself down, body starting to turn cold from the shower. He pulled the curtains back and grabbed a towel, quickly drying his body before touching his hair. After he dressed himself, he stepped out of the bathroom and spotted Mateo, who was now awake and sitting on the bed, staring at him with a hand resting on his chin.

 

“Clean?” he smiled, standing up. He was shirtless, pants hanging onto his hips. He seemed to have cleaned himself up. Nikolas guessed he had done it in the kitchen with a paper towel because his hair was still screaming ‘sex.’ 

 

“Yup,” a smile crossed the Americans face, hair lightly damp. He glanced to the alarm clock on the bedside table.  _ 5:51 _ . Nikolas moved toward the table, spotting his wallet. “Thanks for letting me use your shower,” his voice was soft as he stuck the piece of leather into his pocket, eyes turning to look at the Spaniard.

 

“Do you have to leave so soon?” Mateo asked, moving close to the shorter blond and wrapping his arms around the smaller waist. “You could always stay for a bit longer,” he purred, moving to place a kiss on the little bit of white neck exposed. 

 

“I do have to leave,” Nikolas moved his head so that more of his neck was exposed, basking in this moment. A small moan escaped his lips as the older male nipped gently at the soft skin.

 

“Where do you work that you have to leave so early?” he whispered before sucking lightly, reddening the area.

 

“The police station in Sims 3,” a serious tone came from Nikolas, causing Mateo to pull back, confusion on his face. “I need to get to the level of private investigator by tonight so I can beat my friend’s record,” he grinned up at the even more confused male.

 

“Okay..?” his eyebrows were knitted together in confusion. “Ah… good luck with that then,” he said shaking his head. “Anyways, if you want… I work on Mondays thru Thursdays at the same time and Saturdays from one p.m. to ten,” he smiled, leaning down to place a kiss on Nikolas’ cheek. “It was fun after all.”

 

“I might. Depends,” he replied with a smirk across his face. “Just got to convince me you’ll do better next time,” he snaked his arm around the tawny neck, fingers curling into the deep brown hair. 

 

“Do you  _ really _ have to leave now?” Mateo asked, taking a deep breath and pulling Nikolas closer, enough so the smaller male could feel him hardening. “I’m sure you can beat that record easily minus an hour,” he breathed out before planting a kiss on his lips.

 

“I do,” he let out a laugh before turning their embrace so that he was closer to the door before pulling back. “Plus, both of us well rested would take more than hour to satisfy anything,” he smirked, spinning on his heel and walking to the door, slowly slipping on his shoes. “Till next time,” Nikolas blew a kiss to the cutely dazed Spaniard as he vanished with the click of the latching door. 


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the flashback Nikolas had in Mateo's shower, he had a habit of not sleeping as more memories chased him in his unconscious state. He decided to take a break after he could no longer focus on the Italian in front of him, but ended up thinking about his best friend he hadn't seen in forever. Horrible decision really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter within a day. You guys should be thanking me. Actually, no. I'm just unable to sleep and needed something to do so I could wind myself down for school in uh... 5 hours? Jesus I need to sleep.
> 
> Also this is pretty short. I could've done better.

Nikolas paused his fingers over the keys, eyes trying to focus on the document in front of him but the words kept getting fuzzy. Was he really that tired? He puffed out his cheeks and let his hands fall limp on the desk, eyes cast upward as he switched his vision away from the bright light of the screen.

 

It had been a couple of days since he had met Mateo, but hadn’t gone back. It had also been a couple of days since he began to rarely sleep since each time he did, dreams of the past would come to haunt him. He closed his eyes momentarily before they shot open again. He was  _ not _ going to deal with these echoes of the past anymore. 

 

He stood, locking his computer before moving to shut the blinds to every window, and the door, of his office before sitting himself down in the middle of the room, legs crossed as he placed his face into his hands, finger nails curling into his skin. He took deep breaths, eyes closed and focusing completely on that. Hoping, just  _ hoping _ what Alyx had once told him to do would help.

 

“Alyx,” Nikolas whispered softly, a smile coming to his lips before vanishing with a choked back sob. “Shit… I miss him,” he let out a laugh that cut through the shaking in his body. He covered his mouth, ignoring the new reason his vision was becoming blurry. His fingers curled deeper into his skin as he leaned forward, body flexible enough to allow him to rest his head on his knees, eyes closing once his forehead touched the hard bone.

  
  


_ “Xan! Look at this!” Nikolas’ voice rose from across the lunch table, fingers lightly holding the phone with a text post on it. “Relatable, right?” _

 

_ “True,” Alyx grinned, reaching forward to steady Nik’s shaking hand to better read the text on the screen. “Reblog that, will you? I need it on my tumblr,” he smirked as he leaned back, eyes switching to his screen.  _

 

_ “I will! Oh right… Can I still come over and hang out tonight?” the bleach blond gave his full concentration to the true blond in front of him. “Because my mom said it was okay,” he added before he reached his hand down to grab one of the school ‘chicken’ nuggets on his tray. _

 

_ “You can. I checked with my mom,” he said as he glanced to Nikolas. “Will you be driving yourself or is your mom gonna drop you off?” _

 

_ “Driving myself. She doesn’t want to get up before one tomorrow,” he joked after swallowing the white meat. “Do I need to bring anything specific?” the green-grey eyes drifted away from the blue ones, concealed by glasses, focused on him. “Also, what time would be good for me to head over?” _

 

_ “Around seven would be good so you can come right in and eat dinner with us,” he smiled before setting his own phone down. “You could also come sooner. Really, whenever you want to.” _

 

_ “Alright,” Nikolas nodded, stretching his arms above his head with a grin. “I’ll be over around 5:45. I have to clean my room up some and do the dishes when I get home, so I might be a bit later than that. Depends on how quick I can get things done,” he laughed as he set his hands onto his lap. _

  
  


Nikolas had finally got his breathing under control, knees now drawn to his chest and arms wrapped around them. His nails were digging into the fabric of his pants, making contact with the skin and drawing small sections of blood. He raised his head momentarily as a knock sounded as his door. 

 

“Come in,” he weakly called before setting his head back down. He heard heavy footsteps approach him then a hand reached down, gently stroking his hair.

 

“What’s wrong Nikolas?” a deep, soothing voice, most likely Rikkin’s. There was soft grunt as he sat down next to the bleached-blond with brown hair growing in at the roots. “Do you need someone to talk to about it?”

 

“I’m fine,” Nikolas’ voice was soft as he lifted his head, rubbing his cheeks to rid them of their tear stains. “It’s just ridiculous thoughts. I’ll be fine in a few minutes. Ah… by the way, how’d you know that there was probably something wrong?”

 

“Someone informed me that you had closed your blinds,” he admitted as he studied the younger male’s face. “I decided it was out of the ordinary for you so I had to come and check.” Nikolas simply nodded in response after running his fingers quickly through his hair. 

 

Nikolas finally stood, making his way back to his laptop and unlocking it. “Do you want the document I finished translating? I had planned on giving it to someone after I finished the last document I had been given, but uh… I couldn’t really concentrate so it isn’t done yet,” Nikolas spoke as he opened the window with the finished document. “It talks about a  _ Pupilla Paradisi _ somewhere in Italy. If I remember correctly, it mentions the Vatican and… a guy name Ezio. All I’ve got is that and he is from Florence.”

 

“Ezio?” a frown crossed Rikkin’s face as he crossed the floor to stand beside him. “How about whether he was a Templar or Assassin?”

 

“Assassin. I think. I’m not sure,” Nikolas let out a small sigh. “This document was so vague that it was hard to get any proper knowledge from it. Especially since Italian isn’t my forte.”

 

“That’s fine,” Rikkin muttered as he read through the document. “This may actually be all we need from you on this subject right now,” he said, moving to leave the room. “Email that to me immediately. I’ll be back if I need more from you.”

  
“A-Alright?” Nikolas felt his eyebrows knit together as his fingers went to the keys of the device. A few clicks and the document was on it’s way, paperlessly, to the older man. “Is this Apple truly all this important?” he muttered to himself as he brought up another document, a sketch from one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s forgotten journals of the supposed _Pupilla Paradisi_.


	5. A Past Best Left Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first short story of Desynced. The short stories added in this series will hopefully bring more attention to what made Nikolas who he was and provide you readers with more information regarding him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is pretty much just a segment of Nikolas' life. The next chapter will continue this, but chapter six will return to Desynced. I swear, I just needed to procrastinate because I'm still waiting for Synced Links to meet my time. Soon. Soon. Maybe. Also Chris is a lil bitch.
> 
> I have lied to you about editing mistakes. I apologize for the inconvenience ... <3

There was a loud smack as a body hit a wall, causing a groan to escape the  _ thing _ that made contact with the brick wall. There was a huff from the side as Nikolas turned his attention to the second attacker, fingers still curled into fists. He shifted his weight, facing the male that was still standing. 

 

“Would you just stand  _ still _ ?!” the unknown boy growled, face growing red. He moved forward, swinging with his entire body. Nikolas side-stepped just before the fist made contact with him, turning his body and pushing against the back to topple him over. 

 

“Yes, because I am  _ totally _ going to stand still and let you kick my ass,” Nikolas rolled his eyes, body relaxing momentarily before tensing again at the sound of someone whistling to his left. He turned, eyes making contact with a fairly larger male, really too well built.

 

“You idiots got your asses handed to you?” he snickered as he got closer. “By this kid who looks like he should be in a library right now?” he looked Nikolas up and down, letting out a chuckle at the sweater that had barely been taken out of place from the brawl. “Did you guys even land a hit on him?” he slowly started to circle the bleached blond, who was still well on edge. 

 

“Chris hit him in the gut,” the guy who propped himself up on the ground muttered, wiping away blood from a cut on his lip. “I hit him in the back.”

 

“Doesn’t look like you truly landed anything,” he glanced over to the one who just spoke before looking over to Chris who was passed out against the wall. “So, what’s your name?” his cool blue eyes turned to Nikolas, closely examining him.

 

“Don’t matter,” the blond snarled, fingers curling into fists once again. “Piss off, I am  _ not _ in the mood to deal with this shit.”

 

“Damn,” he drew out the word, a smirk on his face. “You’re pretty feisty. I’m not going to do anything to you,” he said as he stepped closer. “I just want to know what you can do,” he grinned before sticking his hand out. “Name is Daniel.”

 

Nikolas hesitated before taking the hand, “Nikolas.” He quickly drew his hand back and looked over to the two injured males. “Uh… Chris? Chris. He may or may not need a few bags of ice later,” he crossed his arms against his chest before looking back at Daniel. “You their ‘leader’ then?”

 

“You sound surprisingly more delinquent like than I had previously thought you would,” Daniel laughed before wrapping his arm around blond’s shoulder, who stiffened at the touch. “But yeah, you could call me that. I didn’t tell them to pick a fight though,” he shook his head before looking down to Nikolas. “Taking it you are busy right now? Or do you maybe want to come with me and my guys for a party? We’d have to get you different clothes though. You look like a complete nerd.”

 

“That’s what I try for,” Nikolas raised an eyebrow before ducking away from Daniel’s arm. “Though, thanks for the offer but I need to get home,” he put his hands up in front of him. “Parents and all,” he started to turn to leave but felt the arm wrap around his shoulder again.

 

“If it’s your parents being buzzkills, give me your phone number and we could hang out another time,” he held his phone out in his hand, a smile on his face. “I would love to spar with you sometime,” he leaned his head to watch Nikolas’ facial expression. The blond hesitated before taking the silver slab and quickly entering his contact information. 

 

“I keep my phone on silent so it may take time for me to respond to any messages or phone calls,” he muttered as he handed the phone back. He freed himself from the other’s grip before heading around from the three other boys. 

 

“I’ll text you later,” Daniel called after him, a grin on his face as he leaned against the brick wall. “Don’t keep me waiting too long.”

 

\---

 

Nikolas glanced to the clock, finger tapping lightly on his desk. He had less than a minute left in math but it felt so much longer. He needed to go meet up with Daniel and talk to him about a little  _ incident _ that Chris had gotten them both into. Nikolas reached up with his other hand to touch his lip before wincing. He had split it open big time and he was going to get in trouble when he got him. He could just sense it.

 

He quickly stood as the bell rang out, allowing Nikolas to hurriedly leave and head toward the back of the school where he knew Daniel would be waiting. He turned the corner, spotting the taller, darked haired male chatting away with some guy. As Nik approached, he could hear Daniel stop talking, in stunned silence from the hits that was landed on him probably.

 

“Could you  _ please _ talk to Chris about not deciding to start fights with anyone who just  _ looks _ at him the wrong way?” the blond crossed his arms as he stopped in front of Daniel. “I have a fuckin’ busted lip because of him  _ and _ my parents are gonna lecture me about not getting into fights and possibly ground me.” Nikolas flinched at fingers touching his bruising cheek and bottom lip, concerned eyes examining them closely. 

 

“What exactly happened?” he asked, tilting Nikolas’ chin a few times to properly see his whole face. “ _ Who _ did this?”

 

“I took care of them, don’t worry. Chris provoked them and started to get into a fight with about six guys. I tried to stop Chris from throwing a bunch, but got punched in the process,” he explained quickly before reaching his hand up to move Daniel’s hand away from him. “I’m fine other than a few marks. I just wanted to let you know what happened since I doubt Chris will tell you,” Nikolas stepped back so he could be a little out of the larger male’s reach.

 

Daniel clicked his tongue before bringing a hand up to his face and covering his mouth, staring off to the side. “Six guys you said?” He asked as he brought his attention back to the bruised boy. “How big were they?”

 

“Ranged from Chris’ size to a little over yours.”

“Damn… and how many of them landed hits on you?”

“Three before I realized what was going on. Chris got more ripped up than me, but he barely landed a hit himself.”

 

“Are you sure you’re fine?” he moved closer to Nikolas, cupping his cheeks in his hands and tilting his face up to make eye contact. “You winced,” he frowned as he gently turned him around. “I’m lifting your shirt up now,” his voice was soft and before Nikolas could protest, he was lifting up the shirt and let out a small growl. “Your whole fuckin’ back is bruised! How many hits did these asses get on you?”

 

“Ah… well,” Nikolas tugged his shirt back down, fingers curling at the end of the fabric. “A… dozen at least? I had like, little sleep like night so I was prepared for them to attack and I wasn’t focusing on all of them at once…”

 

“You’re coming with me,” he said, wrapping an arm around the small shoulder and leading him away from the back of the building, breathing signaling that Daniel was most likely angry. No, pissed. Nikolas had opened his mouth to protest but decided his best bet was  _ not _ arguing with him as he was led to the parking lot where students’ cars were parked. He inhaled deeply as they got close to Daniel’s car, a Jeep Wrangler. The passenger door was opened for him before he fully realized that he was supposed to get in. Nikolas hesitated before climbing in without protest. After Daniel had gotten in on the other side, they were immediately off. To where, he didn’t know.

 

“W-Where are we going?”

“My place so we can get you fixed up. Don’t worry, no one will be there to question why you’re so beat up or  _ why _ you came with me,” Daniel kept his eyes on the road and only one had on the wheel, fingers curled tighter against the leather covering. “It’ll help the marks disappear faster and  _ hopefully _ your lip won’t end up with a scar.”

“That’s actually preventable?” Nikolas’ eyes widened, leaning forward to look at Daniel’s face better before wincing and sitting back again, resting his body weight on his elbow. “Medicine or something?”

 

“Wound cleaning stuff. I buy it a lot just in case someone gets injured really badly. If we  get scars, we usually end up with the cops called by parents or something like that,” he explained and leaned his head against his other hand, propped up next to the window. “It’s easier than trying to convince a group of people we aren’t doing anything illegal.”

 

“Sounds fun,” the blond said before looking to the road, heart skipping a beat as he realized he and Daniel lived in the same neighborhood, fingers curling into the car door’s fabric. “A-Ah… You live here?”

 

“Yeah. I just got to make one more turn before we get there,” he glanced over to Nikolas, noticing him tense. “You okay? Is it… weird I live here…?” he frowned as he looked back forward, fingers tightening completely on the wheel before making the last turn into his driveway. He switched hands on the steering wheel and lifted his now free hand to press a button near the front window, garage door beginning to inch open.

 

“N-No! It’s not weird, it’s just.. Ah,” he felt himself beginning to shake. Four houses. They lived  _ four _ houses apart. “I… I live in this neighborhood too,” he brought his free hand up to rub his eyes lightly. “Sorry… I just didn’t expect you to live here,” he admitted, Daniel simply staring at him.

 

“You live here? Which house?” he asked, leaning closer to the blond. “I could take you home then, I mean, I was planning on it anyways…”

 

“Four houses down on this side, the left when we face this way,” he said softly, before looking at Daniel again. “U-Um… can we go in and get me cleaned up now..?”

 

“Oh! Of course,” Daniel quickly cut the engine and got out, waiting on the smaller male since he had already gotten out. He opened the door to enter the house before leading Nikolas out of the kitchen that they entered, through the living room, and up a set of stairs near the back of the house. Family pictures hung perfectly on the walls as they passed them, each one of Daniel or three other kids. All of them having the exact same hair, except Daniel. Brown hair instead of blond. They reached a room that seemed to be just a bit darker than the rest and entered it, certains clearly drawn in an attempt to let in as little sunlight as the transparent cloths could. 

 

He felt a hand grab him and lead him over to the bed, before being forced to sit. He looked around the room as he watched Daniel disappear into a closet. It was about a minute before the chocolate hair came back into sight and weight was added to the bed beside him. 

 

“Please take your shirt off please,” Daniel said as he opened the case on his lap, keeping his eyes trained in the direction of his hands. Nikolas nodded although he felt the other wasn’t paying attention to him before starting to take his shirt off, wincing at his stretching muscles. He laid the shirt on his lap, glancing down at his bare chest, pleased there were no bruises on his front. Daniel set the box down beside him before twisting his body and moving Nikolas so he could have easier access to the blond’s back. He reached forward, gently beginning to apply pain cream, fingers working into the skin. 

 

Nikolas felt the cool fingers on his back and let out a small groan as his muscles were being forced to relax. He heard a small chuckle come from behind him and the heat transfer to his face. Maybe he should try to keep his sounds to himself. He leaned his head forward as the movements went up, to his shoulder blades and just below his neck.

 

“Feel good?” Daniel smirked, leaning forward to get a glimpse of Nikolas’ reddening complexion. He removed his hands which he gained a small whine from before turning Nikolas to face him, with him reluctantly listening to Daniel’s hands. He wiped his hands on his pants before opening a different cream and applied it to Nik’s bruised cheek and then lightly to the split lip, eyes focused on it. 

 

Nikolas felt his heart skip a beat for the  _ second _ time in less than an hour. Was he really getting a crush on  _ Daniel _ ? He had never  _ once _ thought of another guy like this, but now he was. He made eye contact with Daniel for a moment before looking away. Anywhere but at the cool blue eyes. Another skip.  _ Fuck _ .

 

“Ready to head home now?” Daniel asked, quickly putting things away. “Or do you want to stay a little bit longer?”

 

“A little bit longer,” Nikolas said softly, fingers gripping at the shirt on his lap. He heard the case of first aid touch the ground and more weight shift toward him.

 

“Good, because I had something in mind,” Daniel reached an arm across Nikolas’ lap, placing it on the other side. The green-grey eyes met the other’s in surprise before he felt lips make contact with his, jarring him out of reality. He could feel more movement before he was laying back down on the bed and Daniel was right on  _ top _ of him, forcing the kiss deeper.

  
_ Shit. Gay. I am  _ **_so_ ** _ gay. _


	6. Mistakes Can Make More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikolas' past swims through his thoughts once again, this time with a devastating end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second short story in this series, hopefully allowing for more information regarding Nikolas to be given to all you beautiful readers <3

Nikolas felt a smile cross his lips at the message he had just received. His fingers graced over the screen, eyes lighting up as he read it completely. He tapped and opened the keyboard to reply and sent the message. Standing, he moved to the closet and quickly dressed, fingers pausing on the sweater before switching to a t-shirt and a light jacket. He glanced to the mirror, checking, then headed out of his room and out of the house, happy his parents were not home to question him.

As he approached Daniel’s house, his walk sped up, excited to be going on a date. Their fifth date, but still. A grin spread across his face as Dan was waiting on him outside his jeep, resting against it.

 

“Let’s get going,” the chocolate haired boy smiled as he moved, opening the passenger door for Nikolas and quickly planting a kiss on his cheek.

Once they were on their way, Nikolas turned to him, leaning across the center console. “So, where are we going? You wouldn’t tell me in the texts except to dress casual,” he leaned his head against his hand, eyes staring intently at the boy who kept his eyes to the road.

 

“Well, you mentioned how you haven’t gone rollerskating in a long time so I decided we could go ourselves,” he smiled, eyes glancing to Nikolas for a moment before returning to the road. “Plus, it is a chance for you to get out of the house for fun.”

 

“Really?” his eyes widened, reaching over to grab Daniel’s arm. “This is great. Oh my god. I love you, I really do.”

 

Daniel simply smiled, not replying to Nikolas’ excitement. Once in awhile, he would glance over to Nikolas, seemingly checking up on him as he texted on his phone, eyes gleaming in excitement. Nikolas looked up as the car slowed and stopped, causing him to freeze up.

 

“Hey… Dan? T-This isn’t the rollerskating rink,” he said softly, eyes looking around at the people that the headlights shown on. He felt his hands beginning to shake as Daniel got out, leaning down into the vehicle and staring at Nikolas.

 

“Out,” his voice caused a shiver to shoot down the spine of the blond, green-grey eyes widening more. He hesitated, fingers tightening around his phone. He glanced down to it.  _ No signal _ . “Out!” Daniel’s voice raised, fist coming down onto the metal of the jeep. Nikolas scrambled out of the Jeep, a lump stuck in his throat. He slipped his phone into his pocket, eyes focused on the men in the lights. He spared a glance to Daniel who was now approaching them, his face looking calm and focused. 

 

The blond curled and uncurled his fingers, legs shifting to distribute his weight for better balance as he felt all eyes but four on him. Daniel was busy, talking to the probable leader of the group. They were talking to low for him to hear—or rather his blood pumping through his body was  _ all _ he could hear. He felt his whole body tense up when the man Daniel was talking to shifted his gaze to him before raising an eyebrow.

 

“You really want me to believe that that 14-year-old  _ twig _ took down six guys and barely got hurt?” He scoffed and folded his arms, leaning back against a nearby pole. “We’ll see ‘bout that,” he nodded his head toward a group of the guys surrounding him, eyes still focused on the short blond.

 

Nikolas turned his attention to the men now heading toward him, eyes still relatively wide. He kept his fists down, watching their moves.  _ What is Daniel doing..?  _ He ducked when he saw a fist aimed at him and moved his entire body when another fist was being thrown at him. He brought himself up on only the balls of his feet, practically dancing away from the hits, landing a few on the men and knocking one out who had not been paying much attention. He attempted to speed up when he noticed the punches were getting thrown faster than before. The men had noticed Nikolas was better than he looked and he was  _ screwed _ . He dipped his head down to avoid a hit to the face and felt a ball of bones hit his side directly, knocking the wind out of him. He stumbled to his left and felt another fist come into contact, this time with his cheek.

 

His feet guided him back, away from the group and held up a hand to his swelling skin. His eyes scanned the group, searching for the weakest one. He hesitated, fingers lightly leaving his face before moving into the group, surprising them before he landed a fist and then a kick into one of the men. He watched as the man was sent tumbling back, which surprised the group, bodies freezing at the sudden loss of a man. Nikolas took this opportunity to knock two others men out of the group and to the ground before the others noticed what was going on. The last two men stood to Nikolas’ right, eyes watching him closely as they got into a fighting position. Nikolas stood still, examining them and the little movements they were making. He stepped back and watched as one of the men moved forward, followed by the other. 

 

His fist came down onto the first man’s gut and grabbed the other man’s arm with his left hand and then added his right, twisting his own body so that he could flip the man over his shoulder. He heard a hiss of pain before he heard the body hit the ground, body turning to face the man he had simply hit. The larger man’s eyes blazed, lip curling back into a snarl.

 

“You little bitch!” he cried before launching his whole body at the bleached blond. Nikolas sidestepped, hand coming down just above the man’s left collar bone. The man cried out and grabbed his arm that was hopelessly dangling. “The fuck did you do?!” his voice rose higher, eyes staring shocked at his arm. He launched at Nikolas again, this time with only his right arm. The green-grey eyes locked onto the man’s neck, aiming with his left hand. He stepped out of the way as the man fell to the ground, letting out a low groan.

 

Nikolas glanced to his hands, watching them starting to shake uncontrollably. He turned his eyes away from them and to Daniel, who was watching silently, no emotions on his face.

“Well?” Daniel turned his body to look at the older man who stood beside him, who had a smirk on his face. The man crossed his arms and let out a laugh before nodding.

“You were right Smith. That kid is something,” his eyes did not leave Nikolas, shivers being sent through the boy’s spine. “I would love to give you money to take him under my wing, but I don't have the time to deal with a child, no matter how powerful. You might try me in a couple years when his body has completely developed,” he finally turned his gaze to Daniel. The brown-haired boy’s body began to tense as if he was expecting something to hit him at any moment. There was silence between the two men before the elder spoke. “Anyhow, thanks for the show,” he waved his hand and turned to disappear further into the garage. His men moved carefully toward Nikolas and picked up their friends, watching him the whole time before scurrying quickly behind their boss.

 

Once they were out of sight, Daniel cursed and went to punch the wall. He sucked in a deep breath as he paused his knuckles centimeters away from the concrete. “Damn it!” His voice was loud and caused Nikolas to flinch. Daniel turned, heading back and clambering into the Jeep. “Get The hell in before I leave you here,” he snarled to Nikolas who quickly and quietly obeyed, hands still shaking. Daniel reversed out and back into the main road, knuckles white as he gripped the leather bound wheel.

 

The two road in silence for a good part of the drive before Nikolas decided it was a good time to finally ask what had happened. “D-Dan..? What was that about? Why did that guy mention money and me and-”

 

“Could you be quiet for a fucking hour? Because I can  _ not _ stand your voice right now. Plus, you want to know what was going on? I was selling you. It’s not like I actually need you, do I? You’re just somethin’ I earned in my time messing around with people and your legs happened to be the  _ easiest _ I have ever gotten to open,” his voice was cold and full of rage, as if Nikolas had caused everything to happen. As if  _ Nikolas _ was to blame for Daniel not being able to gain money. “Why do you have to be so fuckin’ young, huh?” he hissed out. “You nearly fetched me ten grand and now I lost money instead. A waste of gas and a waste of time, that’s what you are!”

 

The words hit him and Nikolas felt his body beginning to shake, tears racing down his cheeks. He clutched at his shirt, fingers curling through the fabric and to his skin. He could feel the names racing through his head. Everything that people had said to him in the past, all but the positive things. The words his parents had said, his siblings, his friends, and his schoolmates. He felt it beginning to become hard to breath and his eyes turned to the older male. 

 

“Ain’t got anything to say for yourself then? Just going to sit there like the pathetic whore you are?” he snarled, finger tapping against the leather wheel. “For fuck’s sake, would anyone care if you didn’t get back home?” he sneered and glanced in the the side mirror. “From what I learned about you, no one you know would. Not a single person. Not even any of your pets you got at home. They’d all abandon you in time anyways.”

 

“..shut… Shut up!” Nikolas suddenly shouted, fingers loosening from the fabric of his shirt and palms slamming down onto his lap. “You’re wrong! M-My parents would care and so would my sister! You’re just being an asshole because you couldn’t sell me to that old fat guy!”

 

“Oh? So you  _ aren’t _ going to deny that you’re a whore? That’s a surprise. Maybe you actually have spread those twigs for other guys too? Maybe even let some women fuck you, eh?” it seemed that Daniel was not going to stop with his words, not until Nikolas was molded like clay to hate himself even more than he already did. Nikolas’ hands reached over, gripping the brown haired boy’s arm tightly.

 

“I said shut up!”

 

“G-Get off of me! Fuck let  _ go _ !” he ripped his arm away from the smaller male, head whipping forward after he heard a horn blow, his eyes widened at the oncoming lights. He grabbed the steering wheel, turning it to get out of the oncoming truck’s path, but it was too late and there was a deafening boom.

  
Nikolas felt the air leave his lungs, eyes closing tightly as he was tossed around. He felt his body loose gravity for a moment before it came crashing back down—or was it up? His sense was of direction was disappearing but he could feel his body meeting each impact. When he opened his eyes, he could see that his vision was fading. In the little vision he had left, his eyes focused on what was in front of him. The face in front of him was warped, jagged, and nearly smashed. The eyes resembled someone crying blood and no life was in them. He found it impossible to rely anymore information to his brain and felt his body losing the energy to stay awake and soon could not see anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, Chapter Six will continue the regular story and a jump into something Nikolas would have never thought would be possible.
> 
> Also I feel so bad because Nikolas doesn't deserve this.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikolas is really not having a great year. Actually, he isn't having a great life in general right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this chapter was going to be sadder but I couldn't do it and work eight hour shifts at Burger King. So here you are, future chapters will be sad.
> 
> Also, it's been four weeks since I put my two weeks in. Will I ever leave? Probably not.

The blond sat up with a start, clutching at his shirt and struggling to catch his breath. He sat there for a moment, fighting himself to calm down. His fingernails were cutting into his chest through the fabric that covered his upper body. Finally he leaned his head forward, forehead pressed against the skin between his thighs and knees. He let out a shaky breath before turning to check the clock.

4:35 a.m.

He sat back up and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. As he stood he checked his phone. He kept it in the room they had given him since he did not really have a reason to use it. He found it to difficult to keep track of and he found that there was no one to message since he felt like he would just bother his friends if he did talk to them. His feet found himself in front of the closet, mind somewhere else. He opened the door and reached in before pulling out a change of clothes, turning to go back to his bed. Once his mind had finished wandering, he pulled his shirt off, glancing down to see the damage he had dealt himself. His fingers grazed over the small cuts in his skin and then over the faded pink ridges that ran diagonally on his chest before moving on to the scattered blotches of pink skin, almost resembling a shotgun’s spray shot. 

He jumped when he heard footsteps outside the door and quickly pulled the shirt that his hands had picked out, eyes watching the door carefully. He hesitated before changing his lower half to have clean clothes on, a finger momentarily moving against a slightly darker patch of skin near his calf. A sigh escaped his throat as he buttoned his pants, glancing one last time to the clock before deciding to go ahead and start early on his research. He was delving into some interesting things that had to do with the American Revolution, something he had never gotten the chance to really cover in his classes since “every American already knows enough about that damn rodeo.”

Nikolas grabbed his laptop bag and made his way out of his room before quietly continuing down the hallway, eyes moving from each room to the next, a little afraid someone was going stop him, but he had no idea why. 

Once he got to his office he sat down and began to move through the multiple pages that mentioned a certain Native American with a British father. His name was Ratonhnhaké:ton in the first couple of pages before he was beginning to be mentioned as Connor Kenway. Nikolas kept looking into the name change as he attempted to figure out what had happened before his finger paused atop a name that appeared before Ratonhnhaké:ton was mentioned as Connor; the name that had been found was someone who had shown up in a previous document. Achilles Davenport. 

Achilles Davenport, from what Nikolas had been able to find from the documents he had been given, was a mentor of the Assassin’s Brotherhood in Colonial America, taking Connor under his wing once he had been begged to death about it. His fingers twitched, eyes lighting up as he started to find affiliations of Connor and some of the founding fathers, especially George Washington himself. A smile crossed his face when he found information concerning one of his favorite Fathers, Benjamin Franklin. His fingers paused, eyes glancing to William's name, Franklin’s son. His eyes glided over the information he was reading, all to do with William becoming a Templar. He froze before moving to search with dealings of the Franklin Line, finding much to do with both the Templars and Assassins with switching occurring almost every generation. Until the Frye lines. He was going through generations of these families and a transition from England to the United States in the mid-1900s. His eyes widened and heart rate increasing when he found the names of his family. Notably the name Joseph Meyer and then Cain Meyer.

Nikolas swallowed hard when he came across his name, body shaking as he realized he was related to Benjamin Franklin. His ancestor had helped with the creation of the United States of America and the friendship with France. He felt his heart pounding in his chest as he went back, scanning over documents from Benjamin Franklin that they had by chance, smile crossing his face as he read. He jumped as the door to his office was opened, almost slamming into the wall if the woman in the white coat would not have caught it.

“Nikolas, you need to come with me. Right now,” her voice was, worried and harsh, surprising the blond. “Come on. We can not waste any time!” she hissed causing Nikolas to immediately spring up and moved to follow her.

“W-What’s wrong? Did something happen?” he asked, fingers digging into his hands. “T-Tasha?”

“Vidic wants you right now. It’s best not to keep him waiting. When he’s mad… actually, I’m not going to go into detail about that.”

Nikolas stood quickly, releasing the nails from his skin and followed behind her. He could hear his heart beating in his ears and feel it in his chest. What had he done? Had he found out that he deleted a few documents so that they could not have them? Or was it something else?

They entered a well-lit room, causing Nikolas to focus on the situation at hand instead of what he could have done wrong. Vidic was pacing the room, fingers on his chin. He looked up, eyes moving from Tasha to Nikolas. He walked at him and grabbed him by his shoulders.

“You haven’t been in the animus, have you?” He furrowed his eyebrows, eyes ablaze. “Actually, that does not matter. You are the descendant of Franklin and we need you in there right now.”

“The what?” Nikolas frowned, mind immediately translating it. “The spirit? The mind? Animus?”

“Just lay down in that chair. There is no time to explain this,” Vidic spoke, pushing him toward the white and red lounge chair. He hesitated before going over and sitting down.

“W-What’s going on?” Nikolas inquired, watching Vidic and Tasha moving around the computer, typing things in and moving other things around. Tasha came over and placed some kind of helmet on Nikolas’ head, further confusing him.

“You are going to access your ancestor’s memories for us. Do not ask what that means because it takes to long to explain,” Tasha’s voice was calm down, eyes focused as she adjusted the helmet and moved the visor in front of the blond’s eyes.

Before Nikolas could asking anymore questions, he felt his body lerch, or rather, his mind. He felt himself fall out of consciousness, but at the same time he still felt conscious. He was able to look around, but only saw data passing around him. He took a step forward into the grey and white space in front of him. He felt as if there was nothing below him, but could still find a solid space in front of him, confusing himself further.

“H-Hello?” He called out, eyes scanning the areas that went on forever. He felt a knot form in the back of his throat and the grey and white turn various shades of red.

“Nikolas, calm down,” he could hear Vidic’s voice, but was unable to put a certain place as to wear it was coming from, as though it was simply in his head. “What you are experiencing is called the database. This is where we have stored your DNA that holds your ancestor’s memories. Right now, we need to control your breathing and focus simply on seeing. Nothing else. Soon you will be placed in 1798 in the memories of Benjamin Franklin’s son, William. You are going to be in London. Do as your ancestor wants or you will reach desynchronization.”

“W-What? You are gonna have me relive history?” Nikolas could feel his voice shaking. “That doesn’t sound right. I shouldn’t be reliving it. I should be studying it and the effects it had on the world down the road. Reliving it would just cause even more questions to be made than answered!”

“You are a historian that does not want to relive events that happened in the past to create true understandings of what occurred?”

“Of course not! I mean… The way you explained it makes sense, but it just doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t make sense to relive something that had already happened rather than study the texts that came from it!”

“Nikolas, you are about to desynchronize without even starting the memory. You need to calm down.”

Nikolas looked around, body beginning to shake. “Take me out of the animus now. I don’t like it. I don’t want to be in it. I want to go back to my documents. N-Not be stuck in this thing.”

“We need to pull him out now, Vidic,” Tasha’s voice cut through, surprising Nikolas. “If we don’t, I really don’t know what will happen to him. His body and mind are completely rejecting the animus.”

He heard Vidic tsk before he felt the dizzy feeling occur again, this time bringing him back to reality. He took a few deep breaths as the visor and helmet were removed from his head, allowing Nikolas to look at the ceiling that was feet above him. Tasha was looking over him, worry clear on her face as she glanced from him to his vital signs that he hadn’t even noticed being hooked up to.

“Alright Nik, just sit up slowly,” her voice was soft as she helped Nikolas sit up, glancing to the pissed off Vidic in the process. 

“Damn it. We needed that synchronization,” he hissed, practically slamming keys as he typed, eyes even more ablaze than before. “Send him back to his office. We’ll just have the damn movie people work on it.”

Tasha looked at Vidic, eyes widening. “Are you sure that is a good idea? We haven’t properly looked into any of their backgrounds!”

“We look into them far enough to know that they aren’t affiliated with the Assassins. That is good enough for me,” he said, keeping his back to them.

Tasha hesitated before helping Nikolas up and out of the room. “T-This isn’t going to be good,” she muttered as she helped Nikolas off the chair. She began to lead him slowly to his office, muttering to herself.

“Tasha…? Are you alright?” He asked, tapping her arm lightly. He felt extremely dizzy, but Tasha was of higher priority to him at the moment since she was one of the first people he had met while working at Abstergo. 

“I’m fine. I’m just… kind of worried about you is all. Most people get forced into the animus no matter how many times it takes for them to synchronize. Though, I think in your case it’s going to be very hard to get you to synchronize,” she glanced to him before entering his office and sitting in one of the spare chairs. Nikolas moved over to his desk and sat down, leaning into it.

“Do you mean I have to synchronize? I can’t just stay behind my desk and just research the things I need to?” 

“No. Vidic wants really wants everyone at Abstergo who has important ancestors to be synchronize so we can completely get the story and understand where the Pieces of Eden are located,” she leaned against her hand staring at the ground. “You being the descendant of Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Meyer is no exception.”

Nikolas let out a deep breath as he looked at the document on his desktop. “I don’t think that should matter. I should be allowed to choose what I want to do, shouldn’t I?” he spoke quietly, eyes trained once again on the family tree. 

“I guess so, but the Grand Masters don’t think that way. That’s the thoughts of Assassins. You really better watch what you say Nikolas.”

The blond shrunk down, staring at his monitor. He sucked in a deep breath and nodded. “Sorry, I just don’t like the thought of reliving history. It’s something that needs studied, not done.”


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikolas is going through a rough patch and is rethinking his life choices. Like usual.

It had been months since Nikolas had first been thrown into the Animus, but Vidic had not made it his last time. Once a week without warning Nikolas would be taken back to the animus in an attempt to synchronize with William Franklin’s memories. Although there was no progress being shown into Nikolas fully synchronizing with his ancestor, the scientist kept pushing it and with it, Nikolas had noticed a few strange occurrences. 

 

There were times where ghostly figures would move around him without explanation and he would start talking in French in the middle of a conversation. He would also black out and end up in the middle of the offices in the dead of night while working on research. He had begun to freak himself out enough that he began to sleep even less than he already did and dove deeper into his research. 

 

Always hiding his important findings on the Assassin’s, especially when it came to anyone in his family, which brought him to the conclusion that things were not going the way that the Templars had planned for him. He also came across of few documents from the Administration of John F. Kennedy, occasionally glancing at them but finding nothing of important every time he looked. He only kept looking because he had a feeling there was something in there that he should know, that should be revealed to him that was never known before.

 

It had taken him nearly a year before he had found it, the part he was looking for. he had been reading through the documents quietly and took a glance to the clock. It was two in the morning and he should head to bed, though every cell in his body was screaming for him not to,

 

He took a deep breath and then finished the last paragraph of the day, middle finger resting just above the period key. He bounced his finger for a moment, chest pounding. The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy wasn’t a lone man’s job. It was the work of the Templars in an attempt to obtain a Pupilla Paradisi. The Space Mission… Everything had been planned. He hesitated before deleting the document. He had worked hard on it, but he could not let Rikkin get his hands on this. Not at this rate. The Templars were something he had not expected them to be. An evil organization that wanted to restrict freedoms, not save the world.

 

Everything he had been told on day one was a lie. He should have realized that once they had kidnapped him and took him to New York. Then a week later had shipped him off to Spain. He took in a deep breath and placed his head in his hands. He needed to find out more about the Assassins. Through History, no, through someone in the present day. Someone who  _ is _ an Assassin. 

 

He looked up, closing his eyes for a moment before moving the cursor and hitting the exit button on the document. He stared at the message before selecting no. He was not going to save the work he had done. He was not going to save any of the work had yet to complete. All of it. All of it was going to be for his mind only. At least until he could find a group to share it with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was such a short chapter! The shortest one I have written yet!!
> 
> But do not fear! I will be posting again. Soon. Probably.
> 
> If you aren't caught up with the other parts of this series, you should probably go catch up. Those aren't hard to catch up on~! Plus I think a lil someone is making a guest appearance in Synced Links B )))


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikolas has reached his limit and he only knows one place and Assassin to turn to. One visit may determine everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I appreciate all of you reading my story and as much as I would love to update it at more regular pace, it pains me to say I just cannot. Until eternalAnomaly updates his chapters in his story, I can't even write the future chapters. I need Synced Links to actually catch up to my story or all twists and turns in his will be revealed by mine.
> 
> I also apologize for how short the chapter was. I need to work myself back into writing due to the first year of college taking a mighty toll on my creative writing capabilities.

Knock.

 

Pause.

 

Nikolas listened carefully as he heard the apartment behind the door go silent and it continued until he heard the door unlock and a confused face emerge. Desperate eyes met furrowed brows and a hand reached forward to grip Nik’s shoulder. Mateo hesitated before pulling the American into the apartment and quickly locked the door. His hand moved to cup the other’s face, inspecting him closely.

“Nikolas, _Cari_ _ño_ , what’s going on?” the mocha eyes focused only on Nikolas as he began to stutter to explain. “Slow down. I’ll get you coffee, sit down on the couch,” he freed the other of his grip and gently led him in the direction of the couch.

 

Nikolas hesitated before sitting down, mouth covered by his hand as he tried to figure out what exactly he was doing here and what he was going to tell Mateo. _Hey, I know you’re an assassin and I’m not actually one. I’ve been working for the Templars for a little over a year and I gave them information that they needed to take down Assassins_. Yeah. That’s going to go totally great.

 

“Here,” Mateo had come back with two cups, offering the hot one to Nikolas while keeping the cold one for himself. Nik took the drink and watched Mateo sit down beside him, reaching over with his now free hand and pushing back the hair with a clear line between the blond and brown. “Tell me what is wrong.”

 

Nikolas stared at the mocha brown eyes before looking down to the coffee that matched them. He took a deep breath, closing his own and tightening his grip on the cup. He did not dare look up as he spoke. “T-The Templars. The ones here in Madrid. I-I… I work for them. I was taken from the United States while I was attending college in Ohio when they kidnapped me. I didn’t... I wasn’t thinking when I joined them. They told me that my grandfather wanted to protect the world and I believed them. I wanted to help the world too, but not how they want to do it. I don’t want to enslave people,” Nik could hear his words choking in his throat and the tears beginning to poor. “I didn’t want this,” his hands began to shake roughly and he felt the coffee mug removed from them. A small clink as the mug met glass and finally, he felt arms around him, pulling him close.

 

“Hush _mi sol_. Everything is going to be okay,” Mateo’s voice was low and gentle as his hands rubbed slow circles into Nikolas’ back. He spoke no more for a while, focusing on calming Nikolas down with actions rather than words.

 

Mateo leaned back, bringing Nikolas with him and forcing him to lie down. As he held the American close, he could feel the other trying to control his breathing and the tears slowing down as they landed on his arm. He moved one hand from his back and began to run his fingers gently through the other’s hair, humming a tune to a nursery rhyme he had long forgotten the words to.

 

\---

 

It took quite some time until Nikolas had finally calmed down, though that meant he had fallen asleep. Mateo let out a small sigh and moved ever so slightly to retrieve his phone from his pocket, quickly sending out a message. He leaned over Nikolas some to set it on the table before drawing the male closer to him, eyes closing as he decided to rest until the other woke up. Though, it was not long after Mateo had closed his eyes that Nikolas’ breathing changed and he moved to sit up.

 

The Spaniard shifted, leaning his head to look up at Nikolas. The American glanced down before looking away, a pained expression covering his face.

 

“S-Sorry. My rambling made you late to work, didn’t it?” Nik’s voice was rough, hoarse and barely able to leave his throat. The green eyes widened as he felt himself pulled down and kisses pressed lightly against the back of his neck.

 

“It does not matter. You needed someone, so I was here. The bar is not too strict with… absences? I believe that’s the word I want to use. Especially on Mondays,” his voice was as soft as before, this time breath and lips hitting the pale neck. “Mi sol, stay for the night. We will figure this out together.”

 

Nikolas hesitated before turning over, looking directly into Mateo’s eyes. “You… you aren’t mad that I’m technically part of the Templars, the guys that are out for your head?”

 

“Oh, trust me, I am quite furious,” he paused as he felt Nikolas reel back some before leaning forward and pressing a kiss against the American’s forehead. “Though not at you, at those bastardos. We’ll get you out of there, I promise,” Mateo ran a hand gently through the two-colored hair.

“I-I… I don’t think that is a good idea. I-I… I think I need to get out of there on my own, plus I feel like there’s some more I need to discover regarding what the Templars are doing,” the smaller male spoke softly before nuzzling his face into Mateo’s neck, taking in a deep breath. He smelled so much like a Madrid night and Nik _wanted_ to rely on him, but he didn’t want to put him in any more danger than he already was.

 

Mateo hesitated before letting out a small sigh. “Alright, Nikolas. You know where to find me when you need me,” he wrapped his arms tightly around the other, eyes focused on his phone that had lit up.

 

“Thank you for listening to me,” Nikolas mumbled, starting to fall asleep once again.


	10. Lost Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories of Nik's that he had long pushed out of his mind after leaving his home and before his capture by Abstergo. He simply wished for sanity.

Nikolas felt all the muscles in his body freeze as the voice in the phone sobbed out the words he never wanted to hear. Less than a month after he had moved out and to Ohio to attend school, this call cut into his entire being. “D-Dad… he can’t be…” he could feel the words struggling to come out of his mouth as he tried to respond to his sister. “Cecilia, you’re… you’re joking, right? This isn’t something to joke about and—”

 

“I’m not,” her voice sobbed in the speaker. “Dad’s gone. He got in a car accident yesterday and mom told me not to tell you. Told me not to even mention anything to you. Ever,” her voice was forcing itself out as she cried out the words. “I couldn’t just not tell you. You were his favorite. He wouldn’t have cared that you liked men. Mom made a wrong call and kicked you out. Lying to dad about why you left, why you hadn’t connected him since you packed your things in the middle of the night and disappeared by the time he got up to go to work. He deserved to know the truth and yet all that woman did was lie as she always did. I don’t understand how Dad could even—” her voice simply stopped and Nik could hear the pained expression.

 

“Cecilia, it’s okay. I’m… I’m gonna come back for the funeral, okay? I’m going to come back and tell dad. Even if he is gone. I… I really didn’t want it to end up like this but I’ll come back and I’ll try to set things right. I’ll tell mom that I realized I actually don’t like guys. That bastard when I was 14 was just a phase and I’ll—”

 

“No. Nik. Don’t. Don’t lie to yourself. Don’t lie to mom. She already manipulated you enough. Be the bigger person. Live how you want to. I’ll send you something of dad’s, anything I can find. Mom wouldn’t let you within a 100-mile radius of the funeral. She’d call the cops on you before you even had time to breath. She already told me that you were better off dead with Dad. I’m… I’m going to find that ring he always wore. The one with the freemason-like symbol and the eagle. I’ll send it to you for your keepsake,” she began to ramble and Nik knew she was trying to stay strong, to help him. To keep him from making mistakes that would end up with his death, whether it be literal or metaphoric.

 

“I… Thanks, sis. Thank you for helping through all this. For signing the lease to my apartment and my loans for school. Thank you for supporting me while mom pushed me away and dad knew nothing. I’m… I’m really glad you’re my older sister. I’m sorry for being a shitty little brother for years,” his voice was soft, fingers moving to clutch at his shirt as he glanced at his cat who curled around his feet. “Thank you, Cecilia.”

 

“Being a shitty little brother was your job. I’m here for you and if you need money for food or anything, just let me know. I’m not getting the dough for nothing, you know?” she joked before letting out a small sigh. “I’ll talk to you later. Take care, Nik. Fly high,” her voice drifted off before he heard a beeping in his ear relaying that the call had ended.

 

His phone dropped out of his hands as he felt the pain he had been holding back welling out from his heart into his entire building. He let out a half-scream, half-cry as he bent over, tears spilling out of his eyes as his once free hand pulled at his hair. He finally hit the ground on his knees, cat long since left from the startling noise. He pressed his head against the rough carpet, once loud sobs turned silent as his body was wracked with his gasp of air, each tear dripping from his skin. He couldn’t think and was realizing it was starting to get hard to breathe before slamming his fist to the ground.

 

Forcing himself to calm down was an entirely different matter, body still shaking as he attempted to get his breathing under control, forcing his tears to stop. He stayed like that, on his knees, forehead against the carpet, fist clenched in anger and despair. He could do nothing for his dad and his dad would never know. Never know who his son truly was.

 

\---

 

Around two weeks had passed since he had gotten the news of his father and the ring his sister had promised had arrived. As soon as he received it, it had found a place on his hand, specifically his right thumb. The silver circle with the thick top. A symbol of freemason and an eagle behind it. He had finished a tattoo in memory of his father. Dad in cursive surrounded by a pair of outlined wings and the words ‘Fly’ above and ‘High’ below.

 

He had used the fake I.D. his sister had gotten him when he moved in by himself for being cough medicine to get the tattoo. His right wrist stung from the fresh ink, but he could barely feel anything. His entire being had gone numb since the news and he hadn’t replied to any of his friends’ texts, messages, or calls. He had ripped himself away from Alyx and Skylar, his two closest friends.

 

The words his mother had last said to him kept echoing in his ears. Every single time he would think of visiting his dad’s grave he just heard the echoing of homophobic comments and of distaste. The loss of family one by one. Everything was piling up and ripping at each piece of Nik’s last bits of sanity. He struggled to sit up on his bed, his alarm blaring for the warning to get to work. He dug his fingernails into the skin on his upper arms, fingers forcing back the desire to take more of the pills that set on the nightstand.  

 

He moved to the closet, white dress shirt perfectly hung with no visible signs of wrinkles or wear. A deep breath went in and out as he focused on fixing himself up for work, everything being put into their exact place. Hair perfected as he moved to the bathroom. Teeth. Deodorant. Everything for the morning. Finally, as his last alarm went off, he headed out the door and into the Columbus summer air. The heat of the day meant nothing to him as he headed to the Denny’s down the road with a fake Social Security and age on him. Depression is said to make you feel cold.

 

\---

 

Two months had passed and Nikolas had slowly gotten a hold of his mental state on his own, forcing himself into focusing on the upcoming first year of college. His fifteen-year-old mind was being forced into the seven stages of grief over his father in a time frame it should not have. He glanced to the mirror in his bathroom and _knew_ he looked like hell. The dark circles under his eyes had simply kept growing and so had his hair. It had ended up from its once close-cut back in March to nearly past his ears by August. He reached up to the brown puff with his left hand, gently pulling at it, expecting it to be fake in one way or another.

 

A sigh left his lips as he turned to re-enter his bedroom, grabbing his wallet and the items he needed, ring already snug on his thumb. He locked the apartment door before heading down the steps and to the left, deciding to go to the local Walmart to get his haircut along with supplies to fix his facial features. He knew if he kept up his antics of shutting things out, he wasn’t going to be able to keep up the appearance of being 18.

 

Once he got into the Walmart and set up his wait to get a haircut, he left for the pharmacy area. He quietly went through the different aisles, pulling hair product and facial cleansers into his arms. He paused in the hair coloring section, eyes landing on the bleaching items. He hesitated, staring at it before bringing it into his pile of items. Might as well get a new start. He felt eyes on him as he headed to a register, realizing his outfit choice for the day probably wasn’t the best. His loose hoodie, tattered in a few spots wasn’t going to give anyone the impression he was going to buy things correctly. It was finally his turn and he paid for the items in full, exact change.

 

He took his bags and returned to the salon, eyes staring quietly at the different haircuts they had on display on the wall. He moved to one of the books of men’s hairstyles in the waiting area. He set his bags down before thumbing through it, trying to figure out which one would aid in making him look older. He found a particular hairstyle that interested him, though he noticed it wasn’t going to be a popular one with anyone any age. His eyes looked over the short hair around the sides of the man’s head and the longer flow on the top. He sucked in his left cheek, chewing on it before he jumped at the touch of a hand.

“Were you looking into getting an undercut, sweetie?” the woman’s voice was pleasant and soft, a smile on her lips as she looked to the magazine in Nik’s hands.

 

“I-I… um… Yeah, I was but I wasn’t… I’m not really sure if I want to. I realize I look really young with my haircut now and I was hoping to get one that would help me look a bit older and um…” Nik trailed off, looking back down to the open page. “Do… do you have any recommendations?”

 

“If you’re wanting a haircut that would help you look older an undercut might be a good way to go. Teenage boys tend to all have the same hairstyle and once you get into college, their hair either gets shorter or longer. This cut would help you keep some teenage like look with the hair on top, giving you more freedom to style and the undercut, when done correctly would give you a more masculine appearance,” she hummed out, taking the magazine and tracing her pointer finger over the image. “Is that would you want to go for?” her eyes finally lifted from the paper to him.

 

Nikolas was silent for a moment, mind still relaying the words and understanding them. His eyes finally lit up and a smile graced his face. “That’s actually exactly what I was wanting,” he beamed, ignoring the pain that was tensing his muscles. “Oh, I have a question about hair dye as well. I was looking into bleaching my hair with this,” he said as he leaned down and pulled out the box. “Do you have any pointers for this?” he asked, offering her the box. The woman paused, staring at the cardboard container before reaching forward and carefully taking it into her hands.

 

“I wouldn’t recommend doing it yourself, although it is much cheaper. However, since you’ve already bought the box there isn’t much I can do,” she let out a small laugh. “Once you bleach it the first time, with your hair color, it’ll take on a bronze tint. You’ll need to use purple toner or shampoo to get rid of the bronze and give you that blond you’re probably looking for. You can buy the shampoo in here if you’d like after your haircut.”

 

Nikolas nodded as he took the box back. “That sounds great. Thank you so much for helping me with this.”

 

“It’s my job,” she smiled before gently placing a hand on his back. “Let’s get your hair cut then.”

 

\---

 

September.

 

Nikolas picked up the history book for his World Civilizations class, fingers curling into the pages. _Voyages in World History_. He let out a sigh before tossing it back onto his desk and grabbing the book full of primary sources. He glanced to the empty cat bowl next to his dresser before leaning down, tucking the book under his arm and refilling the small silver saucer with blue and fish bones on the outside. He heard a meow and fur rub against his legs, the short he was wearing exposing the skin to the animal.

 

“Hey Leijon,” he smiled, kneeling down on the ground to pet her. He smiled at the feel of the soft fur before standing back up. He let out a small yawn before stuffing the book into his bag on his dresser and moving to leave the house. The satchel dangled from his finger before he pulled it fully onto his shoulder.

 

His first classes of the day were going to be killer on his head. He paused his fingers over the key in the lock, mind coming back to reality. He shook his head and turned the piece of metal. He moved down the hallway, on his way to campus. He was focusing on classes and finding Leijon a new home. He pulled out his cell phone, a full battery in the corner as he typed in his passcode. The damn thing ran slowly but it was good enough for him. He pulled up a number, deciding this was the best time to call her.

 

He paused in his stride, listening to the dialing and then the ringing, counting each pause until there was a thud-like sound. “Nik! Hello!” the Russian accent shone through and a smile crossed his face.

 

“Hey Sky,” he beamed. “How are you doing? I wanted to thank you and apologize for the calls you made and ignoring them.”

 

“That is alright. You just lost your dad. How is college? Fun? Interesting?”

“It’s been alright. Mostly just focusing on school work. I’ve made a few new friends but none as great as you and Xan,” he said before continuing forward. “You dodged my question. How are you?”

 

“Great. I am great,” she finally replied although it sounded a bit forced to him.

 

“Wait,” Nik paused in his stride again, pulling his phone from his ear to check the time. 10:13 am. “Skylar, shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

 

Silence.

 

“Skylar? My wonderful twin?”

 

“You’re right that I _should_ be in class right now. Am I? No. What about you? Don’t you have class soon?”

 

Nik let out a shaky laugh before shaking his head. “I’m on my way there now,” he hummed into the phone. “So, my beautiful sister, how is little Xan doing? I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to him.”

 

“As far as I know he is doing well. Also… “little Xan”? He is older than both of us. By two years.”

 

“That means nothing to me. You, as my birthday twin, should _clearly_ understand that. He is shorter than me, hence, “little Xan.” He got a laugh in response and then silence.

 

“Nik, I have to go. I’ll message you later, yeah?”

 

Nik paused before nodding to himself. “Yeah.”

 

\---

 

October 21.

 

Nik's left knee was tucked up to his chest as he sat in his desk chair, humming softly as he finished his last history paper for the month. He leaned back,  a yawn leaving his body before jumping at the sound of his phone. A notification.

 

He pushed away from the desk and over to the nightstand, picking up the mobile device. 5:58 am. He unlocked the screen and opened the notification bar, a smile crossing his face as he realized it was a picture from Alyx. He opened it up and stifled a laugh once he saw how Alyx had created himself into a meme. He replied quickly.

 

Nik: _Dude, what are you doing up? It’s nearly 6 am!_

Xan: _I should be asking that of you lol._

Nik: I have a completely valid reason. Papers are hard to write when sleep deprived lol

Xan: And more sleep depravity helps?

Nik: Exactly! I got it done!

Xan: lolol

Nik: hey… are you too busy to take a call right now?

Xan: Yeah, hold on a second.

 

There was a pause in the messages before Nik’s ringtone blared at full blast, nearly knocking him out of his chair. He felt his fingers shaking as he answered, placing the phone to his ear. “Hey!”

 

“Hey Jesse,” a voice smirked from the other side.

 

“Middle name? That’s low, wise king,” Nik retorted, a grin forming on his face. He moved to stand up, stretching his free hand up with a yawn.

 

“Oh right! How are classes going? What about World Civilizations?”

 

“Boring,” Nik yawned. “It's only covering the basics since its a gen ed, but I want things that are more in-depth.”

 

“In that case, don’t take writing 101. It’s painfully boring and it makes me want to die.”

“So, it’s a paindeath class,” Nikolas answered without pause, feet moving him to the fridge.

 

“Pain death?” Alyx questioned.

 

“You know, painful death. Shortened. Paindeath.” He pulled open and stared into the icebox before turning and opening a cabinet that held his room-temperature drinks. His finger gripped a monster before moving to the coffee-maker. “This is gonna taste disgusting,” he mumbled to himself as he poured the can into the water tank. He traded out the grounds before hitting brew.

 

“Disgusting? What is?” Nik could hear the tilt of Alyx’s head and let out a chuckle.

 

“I’m making coffee, but I’ve replaced the water with Monster. I’m… using regular ground coffee? I think? I really hope that it won’t be mixed with French Coffee grounds,” Nik hummed as he pulled a coffee cup from the cupboard, eyes drifting around the kitchen.

 

“Nik, what the fuck? That’s worse than me.”

 

“I dunno man. You mixed an entire can of Monster with a cup of coffee. Wouldn’t have the full—wait. Nevermind. You’re right. It is worse. There’s no distilling of the caffeine,” he moved to rub his temples. “Oh well. My body can survive it.”

 

“You turn 16 in a month, don’t kill yourself before then!”

 

“Sorry Alyx,” Nik let out a laugh. “The drink is calling my name and my class in two hours. I need this to stay awake long enough to get back home,” he paused as he heard the coffee maker beep. He reached forward and picked up the newly brewed pitcher of drink. He poured it and paused as he suddenly felt the absence of a living being, hand quickly returning the pitcher to its spot. “Hey, I gotta go now. I’m gonna get stuff together for class,” he kept his voice steady, fearing his friend would hear him on the verge of tears.

 

“Alright. Good luck with the day, Nikkie,” the other boy hummed out. “Make it to your sixteenth birthday, got it?”

 

“Got it,” he chimed back before ending the call. He felt his hand shaking roughly before he dropped the device. He dropped to his knees, tears beginning to stream down his face. “Leijon,” his voice cracked as he spoke his cat’s name. The two days straight of writing had caused him to forget about the missing presence of his feline friend. “Shit,” he leaned his head forward and against the cabinet doors, “I shouldn’t have given you away.”

 

He could feel himself staying in that position for a long time, finally standing up as he heard his phone going off again. He searched the floor for it before picking up it up and turning off the alarm. He let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. 7:25 am. He had been there quite a while.

 

He moved to reheat the drink before downing the cup. He finished it off before pouring another. He paused to stare into the cup before downing the second and then the third. He let out a shaky breath as his pulse skyrocketed.

 

He found himself back in his room and in a change of clothes, grabbing his bag as he turned to leave his house for the day. He turned, locking the door and paused for a moment, feeling as if this would be the last time he would see it. He shook the feeling from his mind and left.

 

He had made it down a block before he felt something shot into his neck. His eyes widened and he reached up to the spot, fingers shaking as they found the dart embedded into his flesh. He turned his head slightly to see a van with a triangle on it before his vision went, the concoction he had made unaiding in his loss of consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's focuses on the time between June 2011 to October 2011. This is the time-frame after Nikolas' graduation from high school and his first semester of college to his capture by Abstergo.
> 
> At this point, I would like to add some disclaimers I did not recently think about in previous chapters. The work credited in no way supports underage drinking or underage sex. The age of consent in Spain, at the time of Nikolas' visit is 16 while the drinking age is 18. At the time I wrote it I had originally believed that he was 18 but upon further inspection of the time frame and such, his age came only to 16. 
> 
> To add to this, I would like to point out that his birthday is November 9, 1995 and shares the birthday to the exact year with Skylar.
> 
> I truly appreciate all of you for continuing to read this after the hiatus that not only this one, but the Synced Series as a whole went through. Please except more chapters over the summer seeing as all three authors will be freed from their captive attention of school and one of us is graduating high school!
> 
> I would like to congratulate my twin, the_little_rogue_wxlf, on her completion of high school! May college treat you as well as it has me <3 
> 
> And I congratulate any of you who are seeing the same before you along with completion of anything else you are striving for. Fly High, my readers!


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